Seven among the nine mountaineers have been found dead and two are still missing while climbing Gurja Mountain, said the District Administration Office.
The expedition team included four Nepalis and five Korean citizens. The mountaineers' team, which had headed to the base camp on October 7, reached there before they lost their contact on October 11. Later the local people found seven of them dead. The identity of the deceased has not been known so far.
However, a guide Lakpa Sherpa said he saw bodies of the eight climbers during an aerial monitoring by a helicopter of Simrik Air on Saturday morning. The climbers may have met with avalanches upon reaching the base camp, it has been estimated. Local people said they could not rescue the bodies of deceased climbers trapped in gorge and steep area at the incident area.
The helicopter of Simrik Air dispatched on Saturday morning to rescue the bodies of the mountaineers and search for the missing ones failed to make it due to bad weather condition, said Chief District Officer Liladhar Adhikari.
The same helicopter would be used Sunday morning to do the rescue mission in coordination with the Home Ministry, he added.
On October 7, a team of 10 climbers had left for the base camp. But one of the team members (Korean citizen) discontinued the expedition midway citing his some health issue. The team had taken permission from the Department of Tourism to scale the mountain within 60 days. They were planned to climb the mountain from its southern point.
